Homebrew Developer Bumuckl - who has brought us the Bermuda CS app and the Pocketmon Quecksilver homebrew game - has released LuaPlayer CFG, a mod that allows you to adjust some useful settings.

The download consists of the Lua Player Mod 4 from cools and, of course, Bumuckl's own CFG Mod. Here are the highlights from the developer's notes:

• You can set the "in-Homebrew" CPU-clock of the application
• You can enable USB easily from the startup
• You can set the file the LuaPlayer will load after startup
• You can add some more luacode into the cfg.lua, which is located in LuaplayerCFG/System

Note that there are other functions in the app not mentioned in the readme. If you have any questions or wish to discuss the app, visit the LuaPlayer CFG mod release thread through the Visit link below.

Download: LuaPlayer CFG Mod
Visit: QJ.NET PSP Development Forum

  

After more than four months, homebrew developer cools decided to update one of his more popular homebrew games called Block Dude. He just dropped by QJ.net PSP Development forum and released version 0.2. Basically, this is somewhat a puzzle game as you have to figure out how to reach the door by moving various blocks hindering your path.

According to cools, he tried to make this game as close as possible to the calc one created by Brandon Sterner. Block Dude v0.2 comes with all the original 11 levels and there are three extras from the flash remake. The developer added that a handful of custom-made levels made by Access_Denied, Beefland, and Spirit Hawk have been included as well. As for the changelog,

• Updated MP3Lib, now will filter mp3's better
• Automatic Scrolling
• Level Editor
• Level Uploader
• GFX Mods!
• No More Oldpad/Pad thing
• MANY BUGFIXES!
• Others as well...

Lastly, cools encourages everyone to take a look at the game's level editor and feel free to create their own and share them with the rest of the community. You can do so through our forum link below. Please read first the accompanying Readme file for controls and other information.

Download: Block Dude v0.2
Visit: QJ PSP Development forum

Homebrew developer cools dropped by the QJ.Net PSP Forums earlier today and unloaded Lua Player Mod 4. It should be remembered that Mod 3 was based on LuaPlayer v0.20. This release, on the other hand, was based on v0.16 which should make it faster. cools also mentioned that Mod 4 was built using the latest sdk and lua 5.1.2.

Lua Player is a script player for your PlayStation Portable. Needless to say, it can run can run applications written in Lua, and it makes writing Lua code both faster and easier than writing for the PSP directly.

With Mod 4, cools received a lot of help from other developers alatnet, youresam, blah, and soulkiller. Given all those devs, one can expect that a lot of new things have been added to Mod 4. You won't be disappointed because that is indeed true. For the full list of functions, refer to the Read link below. For starters, here's a rough overview:

• System Functions
• MP3 Functions
• Ogg Functions
• Gum/Gu Functions
• HPRM Functions
• WLan Functions
• FastBlit Functions

Each file below has its own Readme files, with one dedicated to those who are new to this application. There's also a Readme file for coders and another one for LuaPlayer core developers. Be sure to first browse through the document that applies to you.

Download: Lua Player Mod 4 (source code)
Download: Lua Player Mod 4 (FW 1.5)
Download: Lua Player Mod 4 (FW 1.00 to FW 2.xx)
Visit: QJ PSP Development Forum

When the Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite was announced last March, analysts pondered on whether there's a market for the system and how current system owners will receive the package. Many assumed that only the hardcore crowd would respond, but things didn't play out the way the mavens saw it.

The online demand for the higher-end Xbox 360 package has eclipsed the Core and Premium bundles, which is pretty impressive when you consider that the Elite was listed on retailers for only three weeks and is currently unavailable. This isn't to say that the Core and Premium are weakening, as both have shown a stable market performance since the console launched.

As the Nintendo  Wii fever cools down a bit, the Xbox 360 Elite still finds itself trailing by a lofty 40 percent in the monthly charts. However, it is important to note that even when demand for all three consoles weakened at the tail-end of the first quarter, Microsoft's game machine was the least affected in terms of sales drops.

The same cannot be said of last generation's console king Sony. It's still at the bottom of the current-gen machines and the gap is widening significantly. The Sony PlayStation 3 has experienced a 20 percent decline in demand and its sales barely amounted to half of the Wii's.

Analysts still point to pricing as one of the key factors in winning the console wars. The Xbox 360 Elite  will be priced at lower rates than the PS3 despite new and better hardware included. The platform still hosts the widest game library of the three and has the most vibrant online gaming community with its Xbox Live network.

Now here's another one to add to cools' arsenal of wicked homebrew games, Block Dude v1.0. If you're an active member of the homebrew community, we probably need not remind you of some of cools' previous works. But just in case this is your first time to encounter this coder, he's the same guy who brought us PSP Monopoly and PSP eMail and SMS.

But enough with the history lesson, let's get to the release at hand. Block Dude v1.0 includes 11 levels and cools says that he was able to test the first nine levels. You shouldn't worry about the game being too difficult because as cools says, the first nine levels were totally "beatable". The basic objective of the game is to get past the obstacles and get to the door to go to the next level.

Controls, installation instructions, and other whatnots are all in the readme so make sure you check it out. Have fun!

Download: [Block Dude v1.0]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

As promised, cools and co. delivered the next version of their homebrew, PSP Monopoly. Welcome to Public Beta #2, with "2" standing for "2-player" (okay, "2" for "2nd Public Beta" works as well - all the good wit went out with the pretty wad of money I forked over for Boardwalk rentals).  While still immensely playable between two players via hot-swap PSP, there are a few features from the actual board game not implemented in this game (plus a couple of other missing, though not bugged, stuff):

1. Can't Auction
2. Can't buy deeds after being sent to it.
3. If you land a property that you own, it will say press start to end your turn. Press Square then Start. (Don't ask...)
4. Also, no 1P-vs.-AI. The last version had the AI but no two-player. This one got the 2-player but no AI.
5. Although cools did try to implement the MP3 player feature in this game, in the end, he had to let it go. It would have eaten up too much of the PSP's resources, he says.

Based on cools' own announcements, this may also be the last we'll see of PSP monopoly in quite a while. He did note, though, that if Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi were integrated into LuaPlayer, he would consider coding again to include the feature (speaking of LuaPlayer; don't worry. It's standalone, so you won't need a separate LuaPlayer to play this). So what are you waiting for? Roll seven, land on the Download Links below, and fork over M$ 0.00 (yep, M$ 0.00) for the Title Deed to PSP Monopoly!

(And for interested coders out there: Roll six, land on the last Download Link, and receive the Title Deed for the PSP Monopoly source code, free from XiGency, LiquiFire, & cools, through the General Public License (GPL). Which means do credit them appropriately for the original code if you're gonna do some tweaking. Much respect.)

Download: [PSP Monopoly Beta #2 1.00/2.XX]
Download: [PSP Monopoly Beta #2 1.5]
Download: [PSP Monopoly Beta #2 source]
Discuss: [Forum Discussion Thread]

Some of you guys have been saying that you've lost all hope in UMD games for your beloved PSPs. What with delayed releases, the extra expenses, and whatnots, it's really all too easy to just resign to the kickass homebrew games you can get for free. And with games like splodger15's latest release - PSP Turismo - hell, we won't even try to blame you for feeling that way.

As you can probably tell from the screenshot, the objective of the game is to get past the other vehicles by dodging them and manipulating your car using the D-pad. As compared to the previous version, v0.3 now has music (splodger15 thanks mavsman4457 for the tracks chosen), the difficulty is increased, and the game is now in eboot format.

Also, splodger15 has fixed the bug where the cars didn't know their x and y positions. He gives credit to a lot of people who helped him out: cools, for his mp3 Lua player mod, gunntims0103 for the menu, lmtlmt for help with the controls on the first release, and Benh for helping with the collision.

splodger15 also says that he's sorry if he forgot to mention anyone who helped out and if so, contact him so that he'll be able to give you a shout out in his next release.

To do:

• Map feature to be added
• Different music tracks
• Fix a bug in the menu
  

Download: [PSP Turismo v0.3]

  

Homebrew developer for the PSP, yoyomacy, dropped by our forums once more and shared to us that he is releasing LuaAirForce 0.4 with online feature. He says that he wouldn't have done this game without the help of Tactical Paper, pspgamer, and cools. So with that he divulges what's new with this release.

He mentions that the game is now blessed with a new menu, smaller files, and a health bar. Yoyomacy was able to add other play modes - button smasher mode and ultra speed survival. In smasher mode, you are tasked to kill a slow moving boss that's coming towards you. If he was able to touch you, you're dead. The ultra speed survival is self-explanatory, but basically, it will determine how long you can last in super speed.

  

On the online features side of things, yoyomacy mentions that "online feature is using your wireless internet router, face someone by obth starting at the same time, and you can see your opponents score, and see who can go longer and last longer." With that, here are the other new things you could expect from this version.

• space out levels more and more weapons
• Planes now scroll off screen instead of popping off
• Animation when planes are shot and bullet now has tracer-like red on it
• At certain levels the speed ACTUALLY increase and ammunition limit added
• Points are gained when enemies are shot
• Code was cleaned up a bit, runs smoother.
  
• Sometimes explosions stop midway through and sit there until planes move off screen, especially at high speeds with the small planes
• No more Bullet.lua, combined with game.lua. Minor buggies were fixed
• Start or Select now exit the game
• ONLINE DUAL (please do not use this feature for a few days because the server is currently down)

Download: [LuaAirForce 0.4 with online feature]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

  

Following the great homebrew achievements of today, Cools from our forums has just released version 3 of his highly popular PSP eMail and SMS homebrew application. The last version of PSP eMail and SMS from Yoyomacy added the much sought-after Text2Phone support, and in this version Cools has gone all out to add Verizon Text Messaging support, new line message support (although a little buggy), and a whole bunch of internal changes to make the program run much better.

For those who like to see a good user interface in a program, PSP eMail and SMS v3 has got to be on top of their list. Why? It has a new background selector, which allows you to choose between 12 new backgrounds from the likes of chrisk, XSonic, Siouxsie, thethingexe, Deanaw22, and kozine. Just press "Select" to bring up the options menu followed by square to go into the background changer - it's that easy! Cools may have taken a break from PSP Monopoly to code this, but you should also know that an international version is also on it's way, allowing you to send SMS text messages all around the world!

Download: [PSP eMail and SMS v3]
Discuss: [Forum release thread]

cools has updated his Lua Player v0.20 Mod 2 to LuaPlayer v0.20 Mod 3 for LuaPlayer v0.20.

The big news about Lua Player v0.20 Mod 3 is its MP3 and OGG support. Meanwhile, the overclocking functions were removed because it could be potentially dangerous if the function is not used correctly.

The OGG and the Mp3.EndOfStream() functions are a little bit buggy but cools tested it with 2.71 TIFF and he says it does work. It may also work with 2.71 SE-A, but cools is not sure about that.

"I dont want to see hundreds of mp3 players released because of this. If yours has something the others dont, then consider releasing it, otherwise DON'T. This should be used primarily for background music in Lua games," says cools. Please read the readme files for this app before installing it.

Read the details of the new functions of Lua Player v0.20 Mod 3 after the jump.

Download: [Lua Player v0.20 Mod 3 with MP3 and Ogg support]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]